


Avenging Until Dawn

by Megeara



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Don't Judge, Gameplay, Multi, My First Fanfic, Team Bonding, Team Fluff, Team-fic, Until Dawn - Freeform, Until Dawn Spoilers, kind of fluff, video games - Freeform, with a hint of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:19:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5226677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megeara/pseuds/Megeara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve's obsession with team bonding seemed to be contagious. After movie nights, team sparring and drunk poker, the Avengers tried out the delight of playing video games together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The butterfly effect

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, readers!  
> This is my first work published, and since english isn't my mother tongue, it has a definite possibility that it's not perfect. I'd be over the hills, if you would leave a comment.  
> It seems like a really long shot fic, and since I only wrote the prologue, it'll take some time to be finished. (A gameplay is 10 hours roughly, the prologue takes up about 25 minutes.) I can't promise regular updates. I'll try to be as fast as possible, but I was always a quality before quantity type of girl.  
> Enjoy!

“Where is my popcorn, Stark? I’m starving over here.” Clint shouts from the couch.

“A minute and done, Birdbrain. Patience is a virtue.” grumbles the billionaire.

“You know where I can stick your so called morality. I’ll give you a hint: not in my belly.”

Natasha casually smacks the archer on the back of his head. The familiar gesture shuts Clint up, but there is a shadow of a smirk hiding in the corner of his lips. She jumps down next to him, entwining her bare feet with his. She wears her light pink Winnie-the-Pooh pyjama. Nobody dares to utter a word about it. Natasha has an effect like that, and let’s face it, no one with a common sense wants his ass handed to him by her. She pulls a bowl of battered popcorn on her lap, her favourite, while cocking an eyebrow at Steve, whose eyes linger a second more on her figure. Steve shakes his head. He is sharing a sofa with Thor. The Asgardian is a rare sight in the Tower, and the team treasures those days, when they can enjoy his company. ‘He is weird,’ Tony once said, wiping away an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. ‘But he is still one of us.’ The team agreed wholeheartedly.

Bruce sat on one of the cosy love seats. The physicist slowly came out of his snail house in the past few months. He learnt to trust the team, and that he could relax between them, they had his back. Admittedly it was mostly Tony’s doing. The two of them had a seemingly unbreakable bond made of shared memories, trust, and the love of science. They were dancing around each other, and it became a betting matter in SHIELD, when would they start a relationship. If the team had a saying in it, the sooner, the better.

“Stuff your beak, Tweety.” Tony drops a bowl of hot popcorn to the archer’s lap.

“It’s still…” Steve starts, but Clint already curses, and puts his burnt fingers in his mouth. “Nevermind.”

“Not cool, man.” Clint mumbles.

Tony shrugs and plops down next to Bruce with a mug of coffee. Since he started to work with Bruce, the billionaire gradually cut down from his alcohol consumption. It was common knowledge, that the physicist had tough experience with liquors. Though Tony’s caffeine intake sharply increased ranging from five to ten mugs daily, everyone agreed that it was an improvement.

“Next time maybe you’ll consider my advice, because hey, genius here.” He takes a swig of the coffee and clicks his tongue.“Whose turn it is?”

Steve insisted on team activities. It soon turned out that playing video games was a common interest of them. Tony wasn’t picky; he played whatever was down the list, though his favourite was definitely the puzzle genre. He loved showing off his brain power. Clint unsurprisingly was a master of first person shooters, he was basically unbeatable. Natasha had a talent in multitasking. Apart from sneaking games, she had a soft spot for story-based games and simulators. Bruce was an absolute nerd, playing tabletop games as a kid, and as a completionist, no achievement was safe afront him. Steve developed an interest in strategic games and tower-defenders. And Thor? He was the uncrowned king of Mario Kart and button-smashers. Admittedly he had a hard time learning not to short-circuit or break the controller in half, but he slowly got there.

“If my memory doesn’t fool me, it is Lady Natasha’s,” gestures Thor in the direction of the spy. It took weeks, if not months to persuade him to use first names. He was just stubborn as that, keeping himself to traditions, but when Steve pointed out that in Midgard it’s a sign of intimacy, he reluctantly agreed.

They shoot her a questioning look, and Natasha cracks her knuckles. “Jarvis, please start up the game.”

The huge screen, which covered most of the near wall lit up, while the lights progressively dim. The music starts, tense and a touch cacophonic, while the title shows up. Clint and Bruce groan in symphony.

“Until Dawn?! Nat, we agreed that today is a shoot-and-kill day,” whines the blond.

“You weren’t that convincing,” shrugs Natasha, and Tony whistles low.

“It’s a horror game,” Bruce points out, then adds. “I mean I’m not complaining, it’s actually quite nice to have a story based game once in a while, but my heart-rate may skyrocket in seconds, which in my case can result in horrible destruction.”

“You can hold hands with Stark, if you are afraid,” Natasha offers.

Bruce blushes crimson, and Tony grins wickedly. He nudges his partner’s knee.

“Come on, Brucie-bear, it will be fun.”

Bruce sighs, and Natasha takes it as an allowance to continue with her rules. “There are ten chapters and a prologue. We’ll take turns, so one of us will only get to do one chapter, while the others two. Since it’s not a puzzle game, helping the gamer is allowed. If someone wants a break, we’ll pause the game. I planned to finish it tomorrow, since the playtime is approximately nine or ten hour.”

“So today is prologue and the first five chapters,” Steve simplifies.

“Correct.”

“What is the tale about?” Thor interjects.

Natasha takes the wireless controller from Tony. “In a nutshell?”

“If we really going to do this, then without spoilers, please,” Bruce says and he slumps back against the seat.

“A bunch of kid is stuck on a mountain in Canada with a killer. There are six playable characters, and we have to keep them alive.” Dramatic pause. “Until dawn.”

Clint cocks his head. “Somewhat cliché if you ask me.”

Natasha pats his leg. “That’s the thing. It takes the common elements of the horror genre and twists it into something better.”

She offers the device for Bruce. “Wanna start?”

“Are you sure about it?” He hesitates.

Natasha smirks a little. “I figured you’d want the mild parts.”

Bruce eyes the controller, then he downs his tea with one swig, and takes the device from Natasha with a wry smile. “Why the hell not.”

The screen blackens for a second, as Bruce reluctantly hits the New Game option, but his eyes lit up with interest as soon as the game starts.

“I thought it was supposed to be about teenagers. What does the butterfly effect has to do with it?”

“It’s called game mechanics, doc,” Tony snarks, but his tone gives away his own piked up curiosity.

“Is it like one of those ‘choose your own adventure’ type books?” Steve asks.

“Exactly,” Natasha confirms.

They watch the animation in silence as the light travels through the butterfly’s wing. It takes a second or two, but then it dawns on Bruce.

“How do you know it?” he questions. His eyes are still glued to the screen, much like the others’. “You weren’t even conscious, when they first published those gamebooks in 1976.”

Steve stretches his muscles, and steals a handful of popcorn from Clint in the process. “I got some reading material in SHIELD. Apparently they had the delusion that I’d find some information about gaming history useful.”

The scene changes. It’s snowing in a forest, and the camera slowly zooms in on a big vacation house. A girl – she’s wearing a beanie and has short brown hair - is looking out from a window. The music intensifies as the camera moves away. A man steps inside the view with brown boots and a long coat, similar to Fury’s. They only show his lower body, but it’s clear that he’s swinging a machete in his hand.

“We’re going to die a horrible death,” enounces Thor cheerfully.

“That’s the spirit,” agrees Clint.

There are four people in the house, three girls – Jess, Emily, Sam - and a boy, Mike. They are talking about one of the other girl behind her back, Hannah, and it soon becomes clear, that they are planning to pull a prank. Some of the others join the group, while Sam splits off, going upstairs. She seems distraught, calling for the soon be pranked girl to warn her, while the others with the exception of Mike hide in a room, giggling.

“Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?” Bruce asks the rhetorical question quietly. The others hush him.

Hannah steps into the room, holding up a candle in her hand. She resembles to the girl from the window, but with the difference, that she wears glasses. She only sees Mike, the other kids hiding away from sight. Downstairs, Hannah’s sister calls out for her. Her name is Beth, as the subtitles show. For a second they show that the guy from outside moves - his lower face is covered by a scarf, and he wears some kind of safety goggles -, then the camera rolls back inside focusing on the girl.

“You can move you know,” Tony says, as nothing happens for several seconds and Bruce rolls his eyes.

“Can we discuss what just happened?” Clint asks, crunching on popcorn.

“There is a guy with quite some weapons outside, and a bunch of kids who think that it’s funny to play their friend false.” Steve answers drily, his darkened face reading ‘I hate bullies’ all over.

Natasha hums softly and doesn’t comment.

Bruce meanwhile spins the character around. Thor narrows his eyes at the sight of two passed out boy on the counter.

“Are they dead? Did we already fail?” he asks.

“Plausible,” nods the Captain with a straight face.

“Look,” points Tony at the screen’s left side. “Shiny.”

“We all know what that means,” sing-songs Bruce.

The engineer imitates Gollum. ”Collectibles.”

“Our precious,” agrees Bruce.

Natasha throws popcorn at them with precise aim. “Dorks.”

“Tutorial time, kids. Better pay close attention, because it’ll say it only once.” Tony says.

Bruce picks up the paper as instructed. It reads: _Hannah. You look so damn hot in that shirt… but I bet you’re even better out of it. Come to the guest room at 2.00 am. Mike. xxx_

“They will pay. Don’t ever play with our sister like that,’ Steve growls, and the team voices their agreement.

“Intervention time it is.” Thor repeats after Beth.

The door on the left is locked and there isn’t any object which they can interact with.

“Try the other one,” Natasha suggests. “Aaand another cutscene.”

Hannah starts to unbutton her blouse, while Mike has a shit-eating grin on his face. The situation escalates quickly, as Jess whispers her astonishment. Hannah freaks out while the others step out of their hiding place, and flees the room, just as Sam opens the door. _You guys are jerks. You know that?_ , she says.

“I’d have punched them in the face one by one, but the statement is on point,” Clint declares.

“You’d punch anybody just for fun, man,” Tony shoots him down. At Clint’s glare, he lets off a grin. “Calm down, I’d do the same.”

The cutscene ends, so Bruce gets back to Beth.

“Okay, guys, first decision. Wake up Josh or find the others?” the question breaks a dam of replays.

“There is a killer outside. Wake him up.”

“Who’s Josh?”

“He is drunk, he’ll slow us down.”

“No one gets left behind.”

“Whatever you want Brucie-bear.”

“Yeah, no pressure.” Bruce murmurs. “Waking him up it is.”

Beth runs to wake the boy, but fails miserably. Wasting no more time, she dashes outside, where the others stand, Sam calling for Hannah. _It was just a prank, Han,_  shouted Emily into the snowstorm.

“Do we really want to save everyone?” muttered Clint.

Beth getting fed up with the group’s flippant attitude runs into the woods.

“Watch out, doc, quick time events,” warns Natasha. Bruce takes the obstacles with relative ease. The character stops and the game gives the second decision: fast or safe route.

“We should be safe. I don’t want to break the girl’s neck in the way to save another one,” Bruce says.

Beth takes the stairs and continues her sprint. She is panting, breath coming out in little clouds. The path splits into two. There is a crunching noise coming from the right, and footprints cover the left’s snowy ground.

“Follow the left,” says Steve. “The noise could be a deer.”

Bruce doesn’t object. There are indeed deers standing on the path, and Thor snickers at the Captain’s ‘Called it!’ comment. Beth sneaks past them and jumps down from the rocky berm. She takes out her phone, and the game asks the player to swipe the touch pad to unlock it.

“Unnecessary elements of game mechanics. Gotta love them,” Tony sighs.

“We should take a pic for Snapchat, in case someone kills us,” comments Clint drily.

“Kids these days…” rolls Steve his eyes, deliberately sounding like an old man, which makes the others grin.

The upper left corner informs them, that their Status has been updated, and although Bruce’s hands itch to see what it is, he ignored it in favour of progress. Beth lights her way with the mobile’s screen, and no one flinches when she screams as a deer hops out and runs past her.

“Look at that graphic, she leaves footprints after herself,” Natasha remarks. She snuggled closer to Clint, her feet in the man’s lap, and Bruce deliberately runs in circles and beelines for her entertainment.

Tony quirks an eyebrow. “I don’t want to be the party pooper, but nowadays it’s not that rare. In fact it became kind of norm.”

“I can still enjoy it, can’t I?” She shoots another piece of popcorn at Tony, who catches it in his mouth, and shrugs an agreement.

“Eyes on the screen, we’re making progress,” Bruce says softly.

The character kneels in the snow, one hand extended to pick up a totem. The girl turns it over, and the camera is sucked into the hole on the item’s back, showing Beth as she falls to her death. The camera zooms out, and the game informs them, that the item is a death totem. Clint is the one to break the silence.

“That’s fucked up.”

“It seems we have seen some kind of prophecy,” Thor muses.

“Play it again, doc,” Natasha asks.

Bruce complies, even though his back is rigid, and his face shows no expression. Tony puts a comforting hand onto the small of his back, not moving, but anchoring the man with its warmth.

Natasha nods. “Thor was right. It’s Beth in the video, but it reads that it’s not the future carved in stone, but a possible outcome.”

“Weird,” Steve says. “But if you ask me, I don’t find it quite as much comforting as I’d like it to be.”

“Same here, Capsicle,” Tony opens a can of beer, but puts his hand back to Bruce’s back, when he finishes. “Let’s see if we can prove the, what was it, possible future wrong.”

Bruce moves the girl forward. He starts to contemplate if there is some kind of problem with the girl’s natural instincts, when the fire appears on the right, and Beth doesn’t even flinch, just asks: _What the hell was that?_

“That’d be my reaction too,” Tony says. “Fire I can deal with, but deers? Gosh save me, those things are scarier than Coulson with his tazer.”

Beth takes the next corner, and finds Hannah sitting in the snow, with only her blouse as a layer covering her. Beth gives her her purple coat, while Hannah cries. The camera cuts, showing the scene in infrared. They hear a twig snap, and they both freeze. Then they run. Hannah stumbles, when they reach a bridge, and her mobile falls between the planks, before Beth could help her up. They reach the end of the road. They are panicking, and there is nowhere to go: either they get caught by their pursuer, or fall down the cliff. They are shuffling backwards, when Hannah screams and slips, pulling Beth with herself.

“Shit,” breathes Clint.

Beth caught a branch in time, and now she’s holding on with her life, one hand grabbing the lifeline, other hand holding Hannah. At the top of the cliff the fire bursts again. Hannah is panicking, and her hand is slipping. The pyromaniac appears and reaches towards Beth, and the next choice is presented: let go, or drop Hannah. A timer starts to tick away.

Bruce inhales, his eyes wide, but still brown. He makes his decision, and under the weight of his teammates gaze, puts the controller down on the table. They all watch silently, as the timer finishes its circle. The branch breaks, and the two girls fall down hard on the rocks, rolling down on them, where they come to a halt, bloody and dead.

The tension in the room is high. Tony’s palm draws soothing circles on the scientist’s back, as the man pinches the bridge of his nose, regulating his breathing. Clint finished his bowl of popcorn, and is now hugging Natasha closely. Steve and Thor look grim. They are hunched on themselves, their shoulders brushing lightly.

JARVIS providently pauses the game. Tony takes the opportunity to fetch another cup of coffee for himself, and tee for Bruce. He places the steaming mug on the table, while Thor distributes beer between the others.

“They would have died either way,” breaks the silence Natasha. “It’s not something you should beat yourself over, Bruce.

“I’m not… I know it wasn’t my fault, okay?” he grinds out.

The can of beer hisses as Clint opens it. “Still feels shitty.”

“You did the right thing,” Steve’s eyes look a little distant, and the team remembers the day, when Steve told them about Bucky. “It was either letting go of your… Hannah, or killing off both girl. You couldn’t help or save them, so you chose to be clean.”

Bruce sighs, long and shaky, but when he opens his eyes, his iris are brown, without a hint of gamma electric green. He meets Tony’s slightly worried gaze, and tries on a small, reassuring smile which doesn’t quite feel natural, but the intent behind the gesture is genuine. He picks up the controller, and absentmindedly twiddles the buttons.

“Thanks. I’m okay. Don’t worry.”

“If everyone’s up for it, shall we continue?” Thor asks. At the confirming murmurs, JARVIS unpauses the screen.

The camera shows an office, and the subtitle says ‘THE ANALYST’ with capital red letters. The nameplate on the desk reads Dr. A. J. Hill. The man himself is standing a little further away, looking out the long windows. As the camera focuses on him, he turns around and takes his seat. He is balding, and his facial expression is unsettling, some may even call predatory or maniac. He’s wearing a sweater vest, with dress pants, and he introduces himself as a therapist.

“Shrink,” spats Tony quietly.

 _The past is beyond our control_ , Dr. Hill says way too cheerfully. _Everything you do, every decision you make from now on, will open doors to the future. I want you to remember this as you play your game._

“The way he is speaking makes me uncomfortable,” Clint says, voice low. “It’s like he’s talking to us.”

Natasha slits her eyes. She has a calculating expression on her face. “Is he now?”

_Sometimes… Sometimes these things can be a little bit scary… even terrifying… but I am here to make sure that you no matter how upsetting things may get, you will always find a way to work through it._

“He is tickling my urge to punch him in the face real bad,” murmurs Tony.

“Same here,” Natasha huffs. “Though I wouldn’t stop at one smack.”

“Yeah, you’d probably kill him with your killer thighs. One second he’s grinning with his rubbery smile, next he knows, he has a broken neck,” Tony shudders.

Dr. Hill gives the player a card, and asks to answer his questions honestly. The picture is a matt drawing of a suburban place. The corn field is the dominant surrounding. There is a scarecrow on the right side of the picture, and a red farmhouse on the left. _So… how did that picture make you feel?_

“It’s fuckin’ creepy, that’s what it is,” Tony offers.

Steve makes a tiny noise. He leans forward to see the picture, taking in every detail. “It’s meant to be creepy. The choice of colours are greyish and matt, the field is drawn with black patches, making the impression that something is hiding there. The scarecrow is just the icing on the cake.”

Bruce smiles a little at the supersoldier’s analysis. He chooses the adequate option.

“Hm. So are we uneasy because of the scarecrow, or do we not have a clue.”

“I do not think the bird scarer is the wherefore,” Thor chimes in.

“I agree. There are way more scary things, than scarecrows,” Natasha nods.

“Why can’t he drop that sneer?” Bruce asks, making the decision.

“Something is not ticking right in his head,” Tony replies. “And people wonder why I don’t let some idiot like this inside my head. Ridiculous.”

“It’s just a stereotype, Stark. Not all therapists are hidden sociopaths,” hushes Natasha.

“Is the threat in the house or in the field?” steers Steve back the conversation into the right track.

“Don’t know, man, you tell me,” taps Clint his fingers on the beer can.

“I feel like it’s in the field. The bushy plants can hide way too many things,” Bruce says. Steve nods.

_Is this treat human, or is there some other… fear that you have that you would like to talk to me about?_

“Okay, this is getting ludicrous. It’s definitely human. Right?”

“I don’t know, Friend Clint,” shakes Thor his head. “I can imagine threats far worse than Midgardians. Do you know what a Bilgesnipe is? Son of Coul told me you had no such creature, but you might have heard of them. They are feral beasts, hard to slay.”

“I read about them, before the Battle of New York,” Tony said. “I thought it’d be useful to gather information about the other realms, since I heard you’ll be on the team, Goldilocks.”

“Don’t get your heads out of the game, boys,” Natasha cracked her knuckles. “Bruce, what do you think?”

“I kind of disagree with Thor. At least in this case. Unlike supernatural creatures, humans are canny and sly. They can tear deeper into you, than any claw or fang.” He trails off a second, clearly remembering the time when he was captured by Ross. “Plus, may I add, that the thing chasing us was definitely human-like.”

Dr. Hill’s plastic grin widens. _So you think there’s a person in this field that is a threat to you? That’s quite intriguing._

“Where is the option to bash his teeth in?” Clint asks with a frown. “This guy gives me chills in the worst kind of way.”

“Yes, he’s creepy, can we move on?” sighs Steve.

The analyst leans back in his chair. _I’m afraid_ \- he checks his watch - _we’ve run out of time._ He picks up his mug, and moves back to glare out of the window.

“Sorry?” Natasha blinks. “Is he paid to sit through three minute sessions?”

“I told you, shrinks are the worst. I wouldn’t hand my pen into one, if I didn’t have insurance. Also: the motion capture is fantastic, but the guy mimics way too much,” Tony wrinkles his nose. “You can feel the crazy in his aura.”

“Shh, starting credits,” shushes Clint. The screen is blue, snow is falling down, as a woman sings in the background. The title slowly fades into focus. Different scenes roll through, while the music plays. The players watch with silent fascination.

_Well what is this, that I can't see?_

_With ice cold hands taking hold of me._

_When God is gone and the Devil takes hold._

_Who'll have mercy on my soul?_

_O Death, O Death, consider my age._

_Please don't take me at this stage._

_O, Death. O Death._

_Won't you spare me over 'til another year?_

Natasha’s face becomes blank, but his grip on Clint’s calf tightens. Clint turns his eyes away from the screen, while Tony pales a few shades. Bruce closes his eyes, his jaw clenched, like he’s biting on a bullet. Steve had his cold eyes on the screen, but he twirls a pencil between his fingers, exposing his discomfort. Thor watched his friends face with worry written in his eyes.

The camera follows a bus, while the music fades away. The Radio Station informs that it has been one year since the twin’s gone missing. The Sheriff and the Radio Host talk about the circumstances of the tragedy. The police consider one individual as a person of interest, who claimed that the land was sacred to his forefathers. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

The focus zooms in on Sam. She’s listening to the radio, and when the broadcast is over, she moves on to a video. Josh, the twin’s brother, who was passed out on the counter during the prank, organized a party, or as he calls the annual Blackwood winter getaway. He looks a little shaken, acknowledging his sisters’ death. He thanks the group that they’ll come, and hushes away the worries about him. Let’s party like we’re fucking porn stars, okay?, he tries to lighten up the mood.

Tony and Clint both huff out a quiet laugh at that, but their face still have a pale complex.

_O, I am death, and none can tell,_

_If I open the door to heaven or hell._

_No wealth, no land, no silver, nor gold,_

_Nothing satisfies me but your soul._

_I'm Death, I come to take the soul,_

_Leave the body and leave it cold._

The change in the music’s lyric made an immediate response. The tension turned into something predatory, the haunted look in the eyes darkened, lips wrenched into a lopsided snarl. Each of them had their demons, and each of them fought them down, though the names of the demons were different. Natasha’s wore the name of the Red Room. The Room burnt down. Clint was stabbed in the back by his brother, Barney and his mentors, Trickshot and Swordsman. They are now dead. Tony was betrayed by his uncle, Obadiah Stane, while Bruce was treated like shit by his own father. Both died a horrible death. Steve’s enemy was less personal, but still counted as a vicious nemesis, the Red Skull. He got transported to another realm, and is now highly possibly in Hel.

The camera – after several different shots - lands on a board. There are two words written on the wood with bold black letters: BLACKWOOD PINES


	2. Memento Mori

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on my inner Thor.

Bruce pauses the game, and looks at Natasha. “I don’t want to know, what will happen in the next chapters, if that’s what you call mild.” Thor notices how the cold subsides from the eyes of his teammates.

“As you pointed out, it’s a horror game. It really was moderate, considering that it only contained an accident.”

He gives her a small smile. “I guess you are right. I’m not accustomed to horror games.”

Tony snickers. “I can’t believe that. Remember when we had the “Saw” marathon last month? You were the only one, who didn’t turn green, and I don’t mean the Hulk. Even Thor got sick.”

“Might I remind you, that you’d been the first to request a break?” smiles Thor innocently.

“Hey, don’t point a finger at me; Clint was just as desperate for breathing space, as I, if not more.”

“Not true,” protests the archer. “I needed to go to the bathroom. I wasn’t scared.”

“I didn’t say that,” Tony smirks, and gets a pillow to the face. “But that’s not the point. Jolly Green, you have a poker face, that sometimes surpasses even Natasha’s. Seriously, you were eating nachos with the most carefree attitude. You’d think that you could stomach some jumpscares and creepily smiling therapists.”

Bruce sighs. “Yeah, but there’s a difference between movies and games. I can watch a movie without involving myself in it, with an outside perspective, while games are highly interactive, so I don’t have a chance to disassociate. Do you understand? The story of a movie is fixed; I don’t have any kind of impact on it. In games, I can bend its reality with my decisions, which have serious ingame consequences. Butterfly effect, if you may.”

Natasha looks contemplating. “He has a point you know. I specifically chose this game, just because it has an interesting mechanic. I’m fond of the idea, that the story can have different ending based solely on your decisions.”

“Which brings us back to present: who wants to be next?” Bruce raises the controller.

Thor clears his throat. “I volunteer to try it. I swear I’ll be careful not to break the machine.” The device swaps between hands, and the game continues. As Sam gets off of the bus, the unknown man from the previous chapter is standing with a machete at his hand, and is watching the girl as she enters. The camera zooms on Sam’s face in a close-up, along with various information. Sam, the text says, Hannah’s best friend. Diligent, considerate, adventurous.

Thor smiles. “Sounds like a great companion.”

Sam carries on, the man’s shadow closely follows her. The game gives back the control to the player, and Thor makes his way towards the cable cars. When Sam reaches the gates, a paper glints up. Thor picks it up, to see that it’s a note from Chris, telling that the gate’s busted, she has to climb over.

“Who is Chris again? I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch his face,” Clint asks, as they watch Thor climbing the stone wall, choosing to be quick instead of safe.

Tony opens his mouth to reply, but shuts it just as quickly. “Give me a second. I don’t think his name was mentioned in the prologue, but I have a theory.” Bruce snickers at that, but at the questioning look from Tony, he motions to continue. “Yeah, so remember that there were two kids passed out in the house? I think one’s name was James or John, or whatever…”

“Josh,” interjects Natasha. Thor slips once in the quick time event, but recovers quickly.

Tony rolls his eyes. “I was about to say it. So Josh. It has an eighty-three percent chance that the bud next to him was Chris."

Thor progresses through the woods, when a squirrel jumps on the path. Sam crouches and extends her hand holding some nuts out. An icon appears at the bottom of the screen, warning not to move, but flashes red just a second later.

Thor furrows his brows in confusion. “I don’t understand. Can someone tell me, what did I do, that was wrong?”

Tony perks up. “The controller has a motion sensor which uses accelerometers to detect if the console was moved. It can act like a pointing device since it senses the approximate orientation and acceleration”

Steve sighs. “Thank you, Tony, but can you repeat it in English?”

“Mhm. If you move the console, the game will detect it, like in Wii U Sports.”

Thor’s face lights up. “Then I should not move an inch.”

He stays still on the next try long enough, that she can feed the squirrel. After the animal runs away, Sam encounters a table with information about the indigenous people and the butterfly prophecies. Thor backs away from the board, and picks up the totem lying next to it. The prophecy shows a bird flying away, and Mike on the ground. The team simultaneously lets out a relieved breath.

“It wasn’t so bad,” murmurs Bruce.

“Let’s watch out for birds, and we won’t fuck up,” Clint adds.

Sam reaches the cable car station. There is a bag on the bench next to it. Thor navigates there, where Chris’ phone is buzzing. Thor can either close the bag or snoop.

“I bet half of Tony’s fortune, that he’s nearby and would see us checking his phone,” Clint says casually. Natasha pokes him in the side, and the archer giggles.

“No betting in other’s fortune,” Steve claims a little too quickly, before the billionaire can reply, foregoing any snarky exchange.

Thor tucks the phone back into the pack, and a butterfly appears in the top left corner. Sam calls out for him, and Chris comes out from the station. The shot freezes on the blond man.

Natasha actually snorts. “That’s how you characterize a person. Chris, who has a crush on Ashley. Really?”

“He is also methodical, protective, and humorous,” reads Bruce.

“In short term: he is a geek.” Tony’s grin widens. “Look at how innocent and awkward he looks. It’s cute.”

Steve leans into Thor. “What’s up with the jackets? God, does he really wear four? How can he move?”

Bruce takes off his glasses to polish them. “They are in the mountain. Out of the two characters, his clothing is more proper, considering it’s freezing outside. More layers can trap the heat more efficiently than one big coat.”

Chris tells Sam that he found something mind-blowing, and asks her to follow him. They round the station, where Thor – seeing the shiny dot – finds a wanted poster.

“I have a feeling that there will be a plethora of these kind of collectibles, I motion we skip reading all of them in the future,” Clint suggests.

“Seconded,” came from Steve and Natasha. Thor nods, and Tony shrugs, while Bruce grumbles about missing opportunity of complementary experience.

The characters stop at the shooting range, where there is a tutorial in shooting mechanics. Thor now controls Chris, who is boasting about his marksman skills. Clint snorts, containing his laugh, seeing how the brat swings the gun. Thor shoots the sandbags and bottles, when a squirrel jumps onto a tree stump. There is a target on it, and Steve quickly grabs the Asgardian’s arm.

“Don’t shoot the chipmunk.” Thor complies, and instead shoots another sandbag.

The two character goof around, while a butterfly appears again. The cable car arrives, and they move to get to it, but it appears to be locked. Chris tells her that Josh locked it to keep people out the station. He unlocks the door. They are still bickering, when Thor moves him, to look around. Apart from some posters and a security camera feed, there is nothing of interest.

Steve’s eyes shot up when he registers something. “Did he just say, that Josh bought the whole mountain?”

Tony sips his lukewarm coffee. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Why, do you have a mountain on you name?”

“I have an island. Several, actually. But just as you said, I don’t own a mountain as a matter of fact.” A slow smile spreads on his face. “Yet.”

Natasha looks at him with a blank expression. “It wasn’t an invitation for a waltz.”

The engineer puts his hands up in mock surrender. “I wasn’t implying that I took it as one.”

“We know you, Tony,” pats Bruce him on the calf. The pair sits down in the cable car. Sam tells Chris how it was a great idea to visit the lodge, especially since Josh seemed so excited about it. Chris reciprocates with a story of how he and Josh met back in third grade. He was swapped to the back row of the class next to him. _If it weren’t for the fact that Jeanie Simmonds hit puberty like three years early and on that day decided to wear a low cut shirt that showed off her training bra, I mean who knows? You could be riding in this cable car alone. Boom: Butterfly effect_.

Tony snorts into his mug. “Way to go, buddy. Show them science through overdeveloped girls and BFF bracelets. Best example of the year.”

Up on the mountain, on the other end of the cable car station, a blond girl is sitting on a bench. Her name is Jess, aka Mike’s new girlfriend, and if they can trust the words floating around her frame, she is confident, trusting, and irreverent.

Bruce giggles. The others stare at him for a long moment.

“What’s funny? I want to laugh too,” Clint questions.

“Sorry, sorry,” he clears his throat in an attempt to calm himself. “Just misread the text. Jess, the irrelevant girl.”

Tony huffs. “Thor, watch out, Bruce’s first-to-be-killed senses are tingling.”

“And he might be right. She looks like those plaza chicks from syrupy, braindead series. Definitely a victim type.” Natasha adds.

Jess gets up and walks towards the cable car. She is startled by Sam and Chris, who are locked inside. They ask her to let them out, and Thor does just that, pushing the button. She walks away, the pair following her. Chris jokes around and snatches a letter from Jessica. The upper left corner informs, that the Butterfly Effect updated. The boy teases the blond for her crush on Mike. There is a decision popping up, either to insist on getting the letter back, or explaining the situation.

“We shall be friendly. We don’t want to fester anger,” Thor says.

Jessica explains that she is with Mike now, and takes the letter back. Chris suggests moving on to the lodge, but Jessica insists on staying. Chris comments on Mike, pulling the girl’s leg, while Sam admires the scape. _Did you see this view? I mean, holy cow_.

Steve laughs quietly at the choice of wording. “See?” he points at the TV with enthusiasm. “They used outdated swearing.”

“It’s cute how you call it swearing,” Tony grins at him.

Steve fixes him with a stare, and then a slow, mischievous smirk spreads on his face. “Although I usually avoid swearing, it doesn’t mean I can’t. I had grown up in Brooklyn for crying out loud. I bet I could run my mouth so dirty, that even you would flash red.”

Clint looks between the two men. “Oh, it’s on.”

A boy and a girl arrive at the mountain. The girl, Emily (Mike’s ex; intelligent, resourceful, persuasive) looks pale, her straight black hair frames her face. Matt (Emily’s new boyfriend; motivated, ambitious, active) has a dark skin, with almost black eyes and hair. Emily’s complaining about the short distance they have to walk, although Matt carries their entire luggage.

“Okay, why is she his ex? Who broke it up? I need to know, because these two? Not compatible,” Clint shakes his head. “I mean look at them. The guy takes it like a champ, but this… questionable woman is clearly Mike’s type. All rich and prissy.”

Natasha’s brow rises high, and her voice is smooth and cold as glass. “Just because she can force her will on others doesn’t mean that she is bitch, Barton.”

This catches Bruce’s attention. “Don’t imply that the boy is weak willed. He clearly knows what he got himself into, when he started a relationship with her.”

Before Natasha could answer, Thor interposes. “If I may comment, I agree with Lady Natasha. In Asgard, we cherish strong women and treat them as our equal. Lady Emily is a warrior type; there is nothing wrong with it.”

Bruce opens his mouth to argue, but closes it again, dismissing his dark thoughts.

The pair walks across the bridge, when all of a sudden someone pops out front of them, causing them to jump back in fear. Thor almost drops the controller, but recovers in a matter of seconds, while the guys try to hide their wince at the sudden loudness of the jumpscare.

“Son of a gun,” Steve grits out.

Mike (Emily’s ex; intelligent, driven, persuasive) laughs hard, seeing the startled faces. Emily is not impressed. She calls him a jerk, and Thor has the chance to threaten the boy or to welcome him. The old Thor would have picked a fight even when it wasn’t necessary, just for the sake of it, but now he chooses to avoid the conflict. The thought, that they had a positive effect on the Asgardian’s moral lights pleasant warmth inside them.

Emily’s clearly not that impressed that her ex and current boyfriend laid the line down. Mike jokes on it, then goes to check on the cable car. Soon after, Emily asks Matt to bring the bags to the lodge, while she searches for Sam, because she _really needs to talk to her_.

“I call bullshit on this one,” Tony puts his legs crossed on the table. “She totally wants to hook up with her ex.”

“Yeah, but we already got a black point in her book with the ‘Mike thing’. I can see how she would burst, if we crossed _her_ line,” Steve says.

Thor agrees to take her luggage up, but Matt looks discontented as he grabs her bags. Emily thanks him, and goes to her marry way.

Ashley (has a crush on Chris; academic, inquisitive, forthright), a girl with beanie covering most of her semi-long brown hair has apparently reached the lodge. She’s looking through a telescope, and sees Em and Mike getting a little “friendly”. They are embracing each other, and not in the friend-zone kind of way. Suddenly Matt pops into view, scaring the girl. He’s laughing, but apologizes for startling her. The boy inquires, if she was seeing anything juicy, and asks if he can check. Ash can either mislead the boy, or encourage him.

Bruce puts one hand up to catch the attention. “Wow, okay, no. I reckon we discuss this choice, because this is serious.”

Steve seconds it, and the others nod in agreement.

“Looks like we can either destroy a malfunctioning relationship or a blooming friendship. Isn’t life great?”

“Now you just sound like an old fart, Clint.” Tony teases. He scrunches the empty can of beer. “I don’t like the prissy girl, what’s her name, Emily. Tell the boy she’s cheating on him.”

“I thought we wanted to avoid confrontation,” Steve emphasises Thor’s words from earlier. “If we want to survive we have to stick together. A breakup would fairly likely draw the group aside. And if there is no one to watch your back…”

“You are as good as dead,” finishes Natasha.

Clint pinches the bridge of his nose, and drops his head back on the couch melodramatically. “Why do you speak in a plural form? _We_ need to do this, _we_ have to do that, yadda yadda. You trying to give me a headache?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t enjoy it at least a little,” Natasha cuddled closer, pulling Clint’s arms around her. Clint turns his face upwards, and looks at the ceiling as if he hadn’t seen such a thing in his life. “Nope. Not a bit.”

Thor chuckles at the playful bickering of the spies, and pulls Steve closer to himself, whispering something in his ear, which causes the supersoldier to blush a faint pink. Tony watches them intently, eyes filled with a hint of jealousy. He presses his leg to Bruce’s and leans closer. “Should we just leave the lovey-doveys to their sloppy ogling?”

He catches the pillow rocketing towards him, clearly expecting it.

“Shut up, Stark!” shouts Clint. Bruce looks amused.

Steve clears his throat. “So, about this…” he motions towards the screen with one hand. “Other opinions?”

“I think we should be straight forward. Lying usually backfires if you don’t have experience in it,” Natasha points at the girl. “She doesn’t look like an exception.”

“Yeah, I’m siding with Tasha.” Clint ignores Tony’s 'not surprising' comment. “Lay down the hand, and the tension will dissipate.”

“And we can reload a save file anyway, if we fuck up, so whatever.” Tony says nonchalantly.

There is something akin to hurt flashing in Bruce’s eyes. “What? No! We do it all at once, no cheating. That’s the whole point that we can’t go back in time, if we got a bad ending. So, yeah, none of that.”

Tony throws his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. “Chill, big guy, if that’s what you want, you get it.”

Bruce releases a sigh. “ _Thank_ you.”

Meanwhile Thor went through with the decision. Mike takes the telescope and becomes infuriated as he sees his girlfriend hugging her ex. Ash tries to calm him, but Matt has none of that. He hurries away, Ash just beyond his heals. At the upper cable car station Jessica sits on a bench next to the exit, waiting for Mike. Thor instantly chooses to pick up the book over the phone as the option comes up. She startles as Mike throws a snowball in her direction. Jessica pretends to surrender to him, then – as Thor gladly chooses - picks up a snowball and throws it at him. The shooting exercise with Chris becomes handy, and Thor easily lands the shots on Mike. A bird flies onto the snow-covered table, the one from the vision.

“Don’t kill it!” warns Bruce.

Thor passes the event. The bird flies away, and Mike gets a handful of snow in his face. Jess giggles, and Mike tackles her from behind, which culminates in him falling on top of the blond. The timer starts to tick.

“Yeah, dude, smooch,” Clint coos.

And so they do. Jess tells Mike to save some for the lodge, earning some appreciative purring from Tony. They move to the cabin, as the scene fades out.

“Oh, hell no!” groans the team in union.

Dr. Hill is standing before the window, just like in the first episode. The room is darker than before, and the psychiatrist drops the plastic grin. He takes out a book from one of the drawers and opens it in front of the player. _You will see a set of pictures and symbols. I want you to identify which image in each set makes you the most anxious_.

“Sounds easy enough,” Natasha says. “Thor, I think you should speed run this on instinct. This sounds like a fun task.”

“I will do my best,” assures the god.

He immediately picks women against men, and then moves on. Tony looks like he wants to interject with something dirty, but Natasha shoots him down with a glare. The pictures go on and on. Crowds against planes. Drowning against heights. Snakes against rats. Knives against guns. Snakes against cockroaches. Scarecrows against clowns. Gore against crows.

They all jerk back a little, when Dr. Hill smacks a hand on the table. Tony swears under his breath, and Natasha interjects some in Russian for diversity. The doctor puts a metronome on the table, and tells the player to rely more on his instinct.

The pages continue. Spiders against snakes. Needles against gore. Scarecrows against zombies. Needles against dogs. Needles against storms. At that last one Thor snorts softly in amusement. Dr. Hill stops the metronome, and thanks the player for answering so diligently. _Spiders… Scarecrows… And needles…_ , he lists. He lets out a soft chuckle. _Sounds like a good Friday night!_ Clint gesticulates in a clear expression, which says 'What is wrong with you?!'. The doctor looks at his watch and tells a goodbye, walking back to the window.

“Great! Bye, scary shrink! Your teeth are really white!” Tony jumps up and grabs the empty cans. He calls out from the kitchen. “J, pause it, please, and give me the list of Thor’s choices, I know you’ve recorded them.”

“Naturally, sir.”

“Thanks, J, you’re the best,” he plops down again with a bowl of pretzels in hand. “So, Thor. Care to elaborate?”

Thor blinks at him. “What should I…?”

Steve’s eyes lit up. “Oh, good idea, Tony.”

Bruce frowns. “Fear sharing?”

Tony shrugs. “Kind of.”

“…You really want to make fun of Thor, because he chose women versus men, am I right?”

The genius grins wildly. “Bingo.”

Thor looks really close to rolling his eyes. “I chose women, because I can’t foresee one’s actions, while men are supposedly harder to fight, but are predictable and forward.”

“Wise words,” smirks Natasha.

Tony considers it, then nods. “Understandable.” He flicks the list. “I agree with the fear of crowds, and gosh, don’t get me started on drowning. Fucking water. But dude. Snakes? Really?”

Thor shrugs. “I think I was consistent. I can die by the bite of the serpent, but not from the rat’s. Cockroaches have never bothered me neither. And…” He points at the end of the list. “I preferred snakes over spiders. Those creatures are terrifying. I mean no offense, Lady Natasha.”

“None taken.”

Clint scrutinizes the hologram. “You don’t like knives?”

“It’s far too intimate, and… Loki used to cover them in poison. I met blades with him enough times to learn to respect it.”

“Aren’t we going to address the elephant in the room?” Steve asks. “What’s the problem with scarecrows?”

Clint points his index finger at the god with vigour. “Yeah, man, clowns are way scarier, and this comes from a man who lived in a circus for years.”

Thor pushes his hair out of his face, and grins at the archer. “You forget, Friend Clint, that I was raised a prince. I encountered way too many jesters in my life to be afraid of them. And as for zombies,” turns Thor towards Tony, because he looks like he wants to interrupt. “I am the uncle of a goddess, who has half of her face rotten. And besides, Jötunheim has beasts like your so called zombies, but they are easy targets. Smash their head off, or fry them with lighting and they fall dead.”

“Zombies are cool,” hitches one shoulder Natasha. “But I have to go along with Clint. Scarecrows are the least scary of these choices.”

Thor straightens his posture an inch. “I thought it would be a good idea to keep a pattern, since the strange doctor showed us a picture with a crow scarer in the first session.”

Bruce smiled at him. “Good thinking.”

Thor holds up the controller. “Who wants to be next?”

Clint makes grabby hands at him. “Gimme.” As he gets the console, he makes the same motion towards Tony. “Pretzels, too.”

The engineer looks smug, as he spreads out next to Bruce, contented. “Ask nicely, and I might consider.”

Clint gives him the puppy eyes, and makes his voice whiny. “Give me the bowl, you Ironass, or I’ll stick on of my arrows with perfect accuracy to the mentioned body part.”

Tony beams at him and passes the pretzels to him. “I knew you had it in you.”

Clint plops a piece in his mouth. “Let’s roll.”


End file.
